Dragons lock Trent Merrin admits to shedding a few tears on an emotional final lap of WIN Stadium on Thursday night.

The Shellharbour product debuted at the ground in round 12, 2009 - coincidentally against the Panthers who he played against on Thursday night and will join on a three-year $2.2 million deal next season.

With the Dragons finals hopes hanging by a thread Merrin didn't have time to dwell on the milestone during the week but says the emotion of the occasion took over when he ran onto the WIN Stadium turf.

"I tried to put it on the backburner at the start of the week and not build it up too much but [emotion] definitely takes over," Merrin said.

"It's a place I love playing at and I've been here since I was a kid so it was a very emotional night for me and it was great to get the two points.

"I was tearing up with the fans at the end there.

"They've given me everything over the years and it was great to be able to get the win and give back to them tonight and go out on a high.

"It was definitely an emotional night saying goodbye to the fans and also having my parents there as well."

Merrin agreed to the new deal with the Panthers prior to round one and had braced for a backlash from Dragons fans but was relieved and humbled to receive a warm send-off from the Red V faithful.

"It's just a credit to the Dragons fans," Merrin said. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. They always turn up, win, lose or draw and they're always here for us.

"All I've wanted to do this year is give back to them for all they've done for me. It was very pleasing to get an applause and to see some fans hang around at the end so I could say goodbye."

Merrin's performance was one of the Dragons' best with 17 carries for a 162 metres and 41 tackles in his 55 minutes but the Test back-rower admitted it was a forgettable performance from his side.

"It was just one of those games you have every now and then where everything just goes out the window.

"We made it tough on ourselves and went away from what we'd trained all week to do.

"Penrith were throwing a lot of offloads too and it was just difficult to get a grip on the game.

"We got the two points and that's a bonus ... it's good heading into the Titans [clash] next week.

"Hopefully next weekend we can produce something better than what we did [on Thursday]."